3591 meters above sea level
Maximum & Minimum temperatures: -24 °C to -37 °C
The core would just not keep together! A number of drill holes were given up before we eventually managed to retrieve the two short ice cores that were planned for this location. The reason for this was most likely that we had stopped in an area with extreme low accumulation with large ice crystals that were very poorly bonded. None of us had experienced such conditions before.
To avoid similar situations later on our traverse, we have now studied the Radarsat satellite mosaic for Antarctica. The Radarsat image gives bright returns where ice crystals are large and dark returns where the ice crystals are smaller. Tomorrow, we start out at 6 a.m. We will drive non-stop and will hopefully reach Plateau Station by Friday night – it is 200 km away…
- Jan-Gunnar
Figure caption: Typical Antarctic plateau scenery. Note the cloud patterns on the sky – they pointed straight towards the South Pole (Photo: Kjetil Bakkland).
This contribution is from the log of the Norwegian-US Scientific Traverse team, who are en route from Troll Station to South Pole Station. Much more information can be found here.